Thursday, August 23, 2012

Something Evil (1972)

An over-worked ad executive moves into a country farm house with his artist wife and two young children. They are told that a pentacle painted on the barn is meant to ward off evil spirits. They don't believe it, but the wife appreciates the design, and she incorporates it into her art projects.

It apparently doesn't work as well as it's supposed to. In no time at all, strange things begin to happen at the ol' homestead: weird wind whips up from out of nowhere, a visitor is killed in a car wreck leaving the house, and a baby can be heard crying in the accompanying barn at all hours of the night.

The house has a dark back story, of course, that may explain the odd occurrences. We're just not privy to all that much of it.

The acting is fine but nothing outstanding; the special effects are nil; the story plods along slowly and seemingly without direction. It's not a horrible film, but it's pretty damn mediocre. You'll be ready for it to end halfway through, and when it does, it ends rather suddenly and without suspense.

The only real reason to watch is the novelty factor. It was a low-budget made-for-TV production directed Stephen Spielberg, a year after his far-superior TV flick Duel, and a full decade before he directed Poltergeist, with which this shares a passing resemblance. Darren McGavin, who stars as the husband, also appeared as his signature character Kolchak the same year.

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ATTN:Members of the Indie Horror Community...

...do you have some news you want to spread, a project you want to promote, or something you would like to submit for review? Then get in contact with me immediately! Films accepted in anything from VHS to Blu-Ray, books accepted in physical form or Kindle-friendly format only. All films will receive a review, but books will only be reviewed if they can hold my interest. Why? It's much easier to dedicate 90 minutes to watching a bad film than it is to dedicate two weeks to reading a bad book. Still interested? Then E-mail me at JonnyxMetro [at] hotmail [dot] com.